RHEL Linux - Red Hat System Administration Practice Exam

-v or verbosity would be useful with the tar command if you wanted to see:

1. how many verbs are in the archive

2. the exact number of files in an archive

3. which files get added to or extracted from the archive

4. none of the above

The correct answer is: which files get added to or extracted from the archive

Using the `-v` option with the `tar` command enables verbose mode, which provides detailed output during the execution of the command. When you specify this option while creating or extracting an archive, it displays the names of the files being processed. This means that you will see a list of each file being added to or extracted from the archive in the terminal. This feedback is particularly useful for users who want to track the progress of the operation or verify that the correct files are included or extracted, allowing for better monitoring of the tar process. The other choices do not accurately describe the function of the `-v` or verbosity option. The reference to "how many verbs are in the archive" does not make sense in the context of archiving files. Similarly, while it might seem useful to know the exact number of files in an archive, the verbose option does not provide a count—it merely lists the files processed during the command execution. Therefore, the choice that correctly indicates the functionality of the verbosity flag is the one that confirms which files are being added or extracted.